Oct. 26, 1883.] 



♦ KNOAVLEDGE ♦ 



263 



PROPERTY OP NUMBERS. 



[975] — If we take -14 and double it and more the result two places 

 from the decimal point so as to obtain -0028, and similarly from 

 this obtain ■000056, and so on, then the sum of all the numbers thus 

 obtained will be f . The process may be exhibited thus : — 

 ■14 

 28 

 56 

 112 

 224 

 448 

 896 

 1793 

 3584 

 7168 

 14336 



■142857142857142857 

 The reason for this m'ay be exhibited thus : — 



Let .r = ■ 1 4 + -0028 + -000056 + . 



.Subtracting, 



IS THE COMMON EARTHWORM LUMINOUS ? 



[976] — Having had my attention drawn last night (October 8) to 

 some phosphorescent streaks on the road, which had been observed 

 by some friends, I sallied forth with two of my pupils, and having 

 found two streaks, struck some matches with which I had provided 

 myself, and found that the phenomena proceeded from what were 

 apparently two small earthworms. Is the common earthworm 

 luminous, or is there a special light-giving variety ? 



They had not the slightest resemblance to glowworms, but were 

 exactly similar, as I have said, to small earthworms. 



J. J. C. Fextox. 



LUMINOSITY IX PLANTS AND ANIMALS. 



[977] — I am a constant reader of your paper, and have seen some 

 <'orrespondence lately on luminosity in plants. The other evening 

 I noticed a " something shining in the dark," as Cowper puts it, 

 and not having observed any glowworms in this part of the country, 

 I procured a light to see from what this light was emanating, and 

 found it was from an insect which I suppose is of the centipede 

 I'lniiily, and of the dimensions a.s follows ; — 



Can you please explain this in Knowledge, as I presume the 

 :inimal is not himiirous of itself. A substance like phosphorus fell 

 from it as 1 viewed it on the damp earth. On bringing the 

 creature into a room, ami turning the gas very low, it wiis no 

 longer luminous. G. llEKKL.vrs Vos, B.A., ."il.li.-^.S. 



ORGANIC MATTER IN METEORITE— HEAVY FALL IX 

 BAROMETERS. 



[978] — I observe in your number of the 31st ult. a note respect- 

 ing a " Carbonaceous Meteorite." 



it is ilistinctly in my mind that some time ago I saw in some 

 sciontilic journal a statement that traces of organic life in the shape 

 of an oyster-shell [!] had been discovered in a meteorite, and I 

 think Sir W. Thomson's name was connected with the discovery. 



You will have heard, ere this, I dare say, that during Saturday 

 ■light all the barometers liero — that is, the old-fashioned circular- 

 laced ones — tumbled suddenly down, as to marking, below all the 

 degrees very stormy at 28'. Had the one in my room gone on a 

 little further he would hare registered " Set I?'air." 1 was told 

 such a thing had never hero been seen before. The storm blew 

 from the south down the pass from Snowdou to-day j etill con- 

 tinuing, it tears from the north up the pass. B. H. M. RocKE. 



THE STORM GLASS. 



[979] — Would you kindly inform me whether the following recipe 

 for the " Chemical Barometer," or " Storm Glass," usually sold in 

 opticians, is correct i : — 



" Put iuto a tube 2i drachms camphor, and 11 drachms spirits of 

 wine. When the camphor is dissolved, which it will readily do by 

 agitation, add the following : — Water, 9 drachms ; nitrate of potash, 

 38 grains ; muriate of ammonia, 38 grains. Dissolve in water, prior 

 to mixing with the camphorated spirit, then shake the whole to- 

 gether. Cork the bottle well and wax top, but put a small hole in 

 top ; or, better, cover the top with skin. The above forms an excel- 

 lent indicator of the changes in the weather." 



I have made several glasses according to the above recipe, but 

 they have all had a heavy white appearance, owing, I think, to 

 the excess of camphor, very different from the fleecy-grey matter 

 composing the optician's glass. 



This thick, white matter solidifies, and does not change its position 

 as it should. The opticians' storm glass is sealed at the top, with 

 710 air-hole. 



I should be glad if any of your correspondents would kindly 

 supply me with the proper recipe. John H. JIilxe. 



WART-CHARMING. 

 [980] — Allow me to tell you my own experience of warts. 

 When I was a little boy I had a wart on the tip of my nose. They 

 called me Cicero. My father's aesthetic taste was annoyed at this 

 non-essential to the beautiful. He had recour.^e to the knife, and 

 then stanched the blood with caustic. This process was equally 

 unpleasant and unavailing. The cauterising was constantly renewed, 

 but the blackened excrescence stubbornly remained rooted to my 

 inflamed nose. Mr. Thomas, a Supervisor in the Excise, took 

 special delight in teasing mo whenever we met. " Master 

 Frederick," he would say, " I think you have a fly on your nose ;" 

 or, " There is a spot of dirt," &c., &c. " Allow me to remove it." 

 In the course of time I left home for a boarding-school, where the 

 medical attendant gave me a powder with which to rub my wart. 

 He also tied a piece of silk round another which grew on my 

 eyelid. Both were gone in a few weekg. The holidays came, and 

 one of my first visits was to my old tormentor, Mr. Thomas. He 

 was out, but on my showing his wife that the wart was no longer 

 to be seen, "Bless me!" said she. " Why, my husband has it!" 

 And sure enough, when he came in a few minutes later, there was 

 the wart on the tip of his nose. I told him how the doctor at 

 school had cured the one on my eyelid, and he allowed me to tie a 

 piece of fine strong catgut round his, in doing which I paid him off 

 by giving such a sharp pull at the two ends that his eyes watered 

 again as he howled and danced about the room. From time to 

 time for some years the wart returned and disappeared. I always 

 fancied that old Thomas had it when I lost it, and vice-versd. 

 Whether it was so I cannot tell ; all I can say is that his went and 

 came at intervals in a similar way. This I heard from Mrs. Thomas 

 some years later. I have met and known several successful wart- 

 charmers. One told me that he had " charmed enough away to 

 fill a bushel-basket." A very favourite charm in many parts of 

 England was to bury a piece of meat secretly after touching the 

 wart or warts with it. As the meat rotted in the ground so the 

 wart died away. Y'ears ago I tried charming children's warts 

 myself, and found that they vanished within the time I promised. 

 , " Fbedekick Helmore. 



AUDITORY FANS (THE AUDIPHONE). 

 [981] — The teeth or any bones of the head may be utilised for con- 

 veying sound vibrations to the inner ear if the outer ear be closed, 

 either mechanically or by disease. A deaf person wishing to know 

 whether the Audiphone will be of service to him should try the 

 effect of placing his watch between his teeth; or, taking a lead 

 pencil in the same waj', and pressing it against the window-frame, 

 he should get some one in the room to speak to him. Other experi- 

 ments will suggest tliemselves. 1 have used the Audiphone for 

 years, and shall be happy to answer questions. F. Heelky. 



LKTTERS RECEIVED AND SHORT ANSWERS. 

 G. EsiAi.r,. J[y lectures at Kensington Town Hall will begin at 

 eight o'clock. — G. G., Uaurv H., M. B. Hiskisson, Perry P.^rnham, 

 OiiHGEii, and others. Glad you like the lines j as to our admitting 

 more, cela depend ; those who pix>fer to have nothing but clear 

 common sense in plain prose have a rather rough-and-ready, not to 

 say rude way of expressing their opinion, and Vega's nnise may 

 object to " be treated unbonignly." — 11. B. Will forward to Vega 

 vour careful counting. It is too late to call on a few rather 



